Companion on a Raspberry Pi in less than 8 minutes!
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- Moving your Bitfocus Companion to a Raspberry Pi is easier than you think! Setup a raspberry pi4 as a dedicated device for your bitfocus companion install to keep it separate from your main computer workstation.
Companion Blog Post:
www.benstechlab.com/bitfocus-...
Balena Etcher SD Card Flashing Software:
www.balena.io/etcher/
BitFocus Companion Docs with link to Raspberry Pi Image:
github.com/bitfocus/companion...
This was one of my first projects using a Canakit raspberry pi4 starter kit. There are links below to get everything you need in one box.
👍 Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this video please give it a like, leave a comment & consider subscribing.
𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢 (paid links)
Best Raspberry Pi4 Kit ► geni.us/5YZAZZ (Amazon)
Cheaper Raspberry Pi4 Kit (Less Memory/No Card) ► geni.us/nKmY1AV (Amazon)
Elgato StreamDeck XL Size ► geni.us/Gd4r (Amazon)
Elgato StreamDeck Standard Size ► geni.us/VBKPzxq (Amazon)
DISCLOSURE: This description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you which helps support the channel.
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00:00 - What is BitFocus Companion?
00:45 - Raspberry Pi4 Starter Kit
01:27 - Raspberry Pi Assembly
02:08 - Prep and Flash Memory Card
04:33 - Boot up Pi for the first time!
04:54 - Move Companion Config from Computer to Pi
06:21 - Check connection to Atem Mini
06:55 - Plugin StreamDeck and rescan USB
07:22 - Summary and Conclusions
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StreamBeats by SENPAI MUSIC GROUP, LLC
Link: www.streambeats.com/
License: www.streambeats.com/static/pd...
#benstechlab #companion #raspberrypi - Věda a technologie
NEW! 👉 Want to rackmount your companion pi?
52pi Rackmount Review: czcams.com/video/020lW8O-oK4/video.html
UCTronics Rackmount Review: czcams.com/video/ZWr7f_zGLWc/video.html
It worked perfectly for me, after a bit of encouragement from Ben. Thank you, Ben. It's working happily now.
Glad I could help! Enjoy your companion pi! 🙂
Just found your channel today. Great quality of production. Been using Companion for almost a year at this point. just made to the move to CompanionPi yesterday.
👍 Thanks! I do like having dedicated hardware for some things (why I like the Atem Minis), so Companion Pi makes perfect sense after that!
Great video and well produced! I just got back from picking up RaspPi from store, and your video will likely save me far more than 8 min.
👍 Good luck with your companion pi build!
Great video showing the whole process of building a companion pi to controlling ATEM Mini.
Thanks @WonJung Hong! Glad you liked it! 🙂
PERFECT VIDEO! YOU GOT NO IDEA HOW THANKFUL I AM TO YOU!
👍 Glad it was helpful!
Under-rated channel. Great work.
Thank you for the kind words! 🙏
Thank you for the video. Will this also work on a rasberry p 1
Thank you good sir
Great work. I now understand how to use the Stream Deck with a Pi but what about the Stream Deck software itself? I'd also like to use buttons that come directly from the Stream Deck software at the same time (using various Stream Deck plugins). The problem is we have a MacBook Air with just 2 USB C ports with a docking hub and Companion loses the connection to the Stream Deck. After working for a few minutes, we get the red flags on each button and no apparent way to reconnect it. Is there a way to set up Companion on the Pi and still use the Stream Deck software simultaneously?
Are you running Companion with a Streamdeck? I'd love to hear how everyone is using this thing! Share a little something below.
Check out David Joshua Ford, best explanation in my opinion and tutorial on stream deck and companion
Hi
after flashing and put the sd card in the raspberry it will say after a while: which user would you like to rename? can you help me with this?
Great video would your recommend a new kit today? I am ready to move my Stream Deck XL to a Pi I think!
Rasperry Pi 4 is still the current latest and greatest! So go ahead with it. I might have a few more options listed on my blog: www.benstechlab.com/topics/raspberry-pi/
Great video thanks a lot! It motivated me to buy a Pi and get started. 2 Questions thought: 1) do I have to leave the SD card in the Pi with the Companion app flashed on it? 2)main event my Streamdeck will be plugged into the Pi, I’m assuming I’m not able to use it to control things on my computer, correct? I’d need a second Streamdeck for that? Thanks a lot :)
Hi @Stephan Melchior! 1.) Yes you leave the SD card in the raspberry pi once it is flashed - the SD card is like the "hard drive" for a raspberry pi. It's the main storage volume the raspberry pi boots from. 2.) There are some ways to integrate the official Elgato app with the Companion app! But some people find it much easier to just buy a 2nd streamdeck and keep the two separate for simplicity. Companion can also integrate with an app like Vicreo to send commands to your computer from the raspberry pi. So really there is a TON of potential! Just all depends how deep in the rabbit hole you want to go... 🙂
Thanks for this, helped a lot.
Question for you. Recently got into Companion Satellite and there are no tutorials at all for this online. Any chance you would make a video and go over the steps?
This is a great idea! I'll put it on the list.
Great video to show step-by-step guide for newbie here. Can you also show how to setup the Raspberry pi to connect to the network via wifi?
Perhaps I'll make a video on this one day... but for those searching right now google "configure wi-fi on raspberry pi4". You'll find some blogs about editing the "wpa_supplicant.conf" file to specify your network settings. Hopefully this gets you going!
A theatre i work with uses one of these
At makes it easy for people who dont know how to use the lighting and sound desks,
It can control the house lights, show lights, work lights, sound and projector, an extremely powerfull tool
Totally! Companion has gained a lot of momentum quickly with the wide variety of devices it can control.
Intergration with osc, and philips dynalite are some of the coolest ones
It was set up by the mega-nerd that was the previous technician, a job i some day hope to fill
A lot if the buttons are linked through some really cool systems
Fun thing is in a school, and having the companion go through to your phone is somethind i would have been enthralled by
Lol
Dude, tech is awesome and the way it effects entertainment is even cooler
I firmly believe moder theatres are technical marvals with cutting edge gear
So I just saw your video and this is very helpful.
Question though: Now that I have the Companion image on the Raspberry Pi, if I take that Pi to another network, basically the same setup, will all my setting still hold even though I am not on the same network?
Yes your companion configuration is stored on the file system in the raspberry pi and will travel with the rpi. In case you are ever worried, you can backup your settings in the companion UI and download a configuration file!
HI, could you also run Playoutbee on the same Rasp Pi simultansously with the Companion app?
People have done this, but you have to start with the playoutbee install and then install Companion inside of that image manually. I prefer to just have more raspberry pis: czcams.com/video/ZWr7f_zGLWc/video.html
Is there a way to run Companion on a Pi that s has Raspian on it? Also, what's the oldest Pi that it would run well on?
I believe you can run Companion on raspian. Raspian is based on Debian (of which buster is a specific generation of Debian). The official docs recommend a raspberry pi 4 for companion but "it will run" on a pi 3 but not recommended. I'd say if you already have a pi3 you dont have much to lose in experimenting. But if you are buying new, get the pi4 (linked in the description).
Good day and thanks for this! Just to clarify, once the Rasberry Pi is assembled, you don't need to install anything, just insert the etched flash disk and turn it on, correct? Also, can the Rasberry Pi be powered by a USB power bank?
Yup, the people behind companion have made this prebuilt image for us! 👍 Otherwise there is a way to do this via a "manual install" or even compile it yourself if so inclined.
Also yes a raspberry pi can be powered by a battery bank. I've also seen some regulated adapter cables to go from a vmount battery or something too.
Thanks @@BensTechLab! A dedicated Companion hardware is nice for mobile ATEM setups. Also if you want to update the Companion buttons / actions, you would need to connect the Pi to the network and repeat the setup, correct?
@@PasmadongKamay Yes, you would have to connect the Pi to the network to configure (dont think you can run the Companion GUI locally on the Pi with their image. But, you need to have the Pi connected to the network anyway for Companion to be able to control anything else than the Stream deck, so not really an issue as far as I can see?
Does this require the ATEM to be connected to a computer on the same network, or could the ATEM be connected to the Raspberry PI?
This video doesn't really cover the ATEM setup with companion. But the way I use companion my Atem is on the local network and a desktop PC is not required at all (do not need to be run Atem Software control - companion can do all the controlling!).
hope u can help me on this -- I did this scenario several times, and is unable to bring up on browser from several pcs laptops etc. im able to ssh in from different pc's but no browser???? i also tried remote desktop and it connect but gives a black blank screnn thanks for any input.
I'm not sure I can help with this as it may be unique to your setup. If you can SSH to the rpi that is a good sign that your network is all working. I'd review the boot-up text on the rpi very closely to make sure it is starting companion as expected.
thanks got it figured out@@BensTechLab
does the Pi operate only as a companion link - or u can add other programs to it? thanks
You could install more apps on pi if you would like. Some people just like having a dedicated device for certain purposes to make absolutely sure nothing goes wrong during a live stream or something. For the default companion image shown in this video, you can still login with the regular default raspberry pi credentials.
i can log in via ssh but cant see companion@@BensTechLab
The atem software is running on the pi or on other computer?
Can i download the atem software on the raspberry pi?
You do not need the Atem software running to use Companion. Companion is able to control the Atem all by itself!
However, you may _optionally_ run the atem control software on your computer if you want it for something that Companion doesn't do on its own. For example creating new macros or adjusting fairlight audio controls.
How did u get the companion app on the raspberry pi…
@Tedz Stonz you can think of a "raspberry pi image" as something like a "hard drive backup". The people who produce companion have pre-baked a "hard drive backup" of the raspberry pi with the operating system installed, the companion app installed, and any config changes that make sense for this application. So when you download and flash your SD card it's pretty much ready to go out of the box! There are harder ways to do this with a manual install, but for 99% of users, this will be great.
hey ben, I bought the canakit with the pre existing noobs on it. Im a noob. Can I also flash the companion pi image on the same SD card as well? If not, any suggestions on what to do?
Yup! "flashing an SD card" = totally overwrite anything already on it. So go ahead. And if you ever want to go back you can download a noobs image and flash it again! Each time a total overwrite of the card.
@@BensTechLab thanks! So can the noobs desktop and the companion pi be used together? I would prefer not lose one over the other. Im lost as to how to keep the Pi desktop in this process
@@BiGGMiCC most people using companion on the pi are using the raspberry pi "headless" with no monitor keyboard or mouse - just a streamdeck or two. Otherwise you might want to run it on a regular desktop computer? Also rasberry pi can multitask, but not as well as a desktop. That said you may be able to install a debian/ubuntu linux version of companion desktop inside the raspberry pi desktop. But I havent tested and not sure I'd recommend it and it would be different than this video.
@@BensTechLab Thanks Ben! I was really hoping not to use both simultaneously but switch between headless and desktop version when I need to on the Pi. Is that setup even possible or would I definitely have to have a separate SD card to achieve it - one with the NOOBS setup and another with the companion pi setup (headless)?
@@BiGGMiCC everything is "possible"! But as a newer user to raspberry pi and linux a $10-15 SD card may be easier to start with. Then you can tackle more complex things as you learn.
Why would you export this to a pi? or separate it in general?
Great question! The short answer is isolation of functionality and spreading out the work load. I like to keep Companion separate from my computer to make sure nothing interferes with each other. As a software developer, I'm often running LOTS of other stuff on my computer including docker containers with other little services/apps (and 100+ browser tabs) and I don't want to risk doing something that breaks my bitfocus companion while recording/live streaming. If you don't do this with a raspberry pi, some people use a 2nd computer: 1 computer for demos/general functions, 1 computer for companion/graphics type stuff. But you can in theory run everything on one computer if the computer is powerful enough and you don't mind having "all your eggs in one basket". But also if your computer is struggling with say running OBS/vMix then adding companion to the same machine may be too much, so moving it off to a raspberry pi is a cheaper way of spreading out the work load than buying a mac mini or something.
How stable and reliable has Raspberry Pi been, for running Companion thus far?
I would say very reliable. However I did 1 time have it lock up and streamdeck was unresponsive and had to reboot the pi. But that was once in a year and it may well have been caused by something I did in software vs the raspberry pi itself. I later mounted my raspberry pi into a rack mount with an easy access power button.
@@BensTechLab Noted with thanks, will explore more! Cheers for sharing this video with us.
I've watched a couple of your videos and so far enjoying your content except for one thing. Please cut out the background music